Eisenhower’s Andre Lovett has a bright future ahead of him, but he’s not ignoring the task at hand.
The senior safety plans on signing with Illinois, hoping to arrive next semester in Champaign to get a jump start on his college career. He also has his eyes on a possible NFL career as well.
But he’s not forgetting the present either — that he has one more season left in his high school playing for the Cardinals. And his job is to guide and help his teammates get back on track.
“I have to be a leader and coach these guys up,” Lovett said after Friday night’s convincing 40-7 loss to Lincoln-Way West. “I’m very vocal. On the field, you can hear me all of the time.
“In practice, I’m always getting on them if they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing. I’m holding them to a high standard.”
Eisenhower’s football program has been riding high in recent years, having qualified for the playoffs the past three seasons. It’s just the second time in school history that has happened.
Lovett, by the way, played on all three of those teams.
So, it was jarring for him and the Cardinals’ fans to see the team get dominated during Friday’s season opener in Blue Island. And unlike the McDonald’s commercial, Lovett wasn’t lovin’ it.
“A lot of guys came up from JV and were unprepared,” he said. “We had a bad week of practice. We were just not disciplined.”
Still, Lovett isn’t giving up on the season. He believes Eisenhower can improve to the point where a South Suburban Red title and program-best fourth straight playoff berth will be in the cards.
He thinks that recovery will start at 7 p.m. Friday, when the Cardinals visit host Noble/Johnson at Gately Stadium in Chicago. Last season, Eisenhower won that game 50-6.
“It’s adversity that you have to come back from,” Lovett said. “You have to come out better and be prepared. It brings hunger in my stomach. I don’t want to lose anymore.
“I want to be better for my team.”
The night before the game against Lincoln-Way West, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound Lovett enjoyed keeping tabs on his future team as Illinois dismantled Eastern Illinois 45-0.
He said he enjoyed watching Miles Scott, the Dolton native and former standout at St. Laurence and T.F. North, force a fumble and make an interception. Lovett plans on attending Saturday’s game against Kansas in Champaign.
Last season, Lovett had had 78 tackles, 25 tackles for losses, eight sacks, nine quarterback pressures, six batted balls and two forced fumbles.
First-year coach Vincent Holmes, an Eisenhower graduate, has known all about Lovett for years.
“He’s a year older than my son, and I’ve seen him play his whole life,” Holmes said of Lovett. “To have the opportunity to coach him is a blessing. I thought he would be the next Eddie George — a big, tall running back. He was running everybody over.
“He’s been a stud his whole life. I’m happy to have the opportunity to coach him and usher him into manhood.”
Lovett learned the sport from his cousin, Mar’Keise Irving, a former Hillcrest star who’s now going by Bucky Irving. Lovett was in Houston for Irving’s watch party when Bucky was taken by Tampa Bay in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL draft.
That gave Lovett a new goal.
“When he got drafted, it put a thought in my mind,” he said. “I want to make it to the league. I looked up to him. He’s been a mentor to me since I was a kid, and he’s the reason I started playing football.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter with the Daily Southtown.
